A police death at a local station?

I was driving home from work one evening.  I noticed traffic was slowing down.  The street wasn't that busy.  It didn't make sense that traffic was slowing down.  I saw ahead that there were a couple fire trucks outside a local police station.  Well, recently, I noticed that the flag outside the station was at half-mast.

A Movie Review: Pain & Gain

Pain & Gain.  Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) is a professional body trainer.  He has hopes of making it big in life, but a professional trainer doesn't make much in life.  He decides to rob a wealthy client of his:  Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub).  He convinces two other body builders to join his cause:  Paul Doyle (Dwayne Johnson) and Adrian Dooral (Anthony Mackie).  He also gets his boss involved, John Mese (Rob Corddry) and his girlfriend/stripper, Sorina Luminita (Bar Paly).

This is a movie based on a real life story:  highly condensed and re-written from what I read.  From what I understand, there were more than just 5 individuals involved in this criminal action.  Of course, just like other movies that might condense characters (Zero Dark Thirty), I find this totally acceptable.

But what did I think about the movie?  A mess.  I hated how many of the characters had narrative moments.  I understand perhaps the attempt to make a unique action movie, but it just failed for me.

I will say there was good character development:  Daniel wanting success, Paul aspiring for a religious life (though still a cocaine addict who likes to steal money), and Adrian wanting a typical home life.  

A Movie Review. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa. Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville) is taking his grandson, Billy (Jackson Nicoll), on a roadtrip. Billy's mother has to serve time in jail so Irving is taking Billy to his father.

Okay, that's the movie plot that highlights the antics of Johnny Knoxville.  Though I wouldn't consider this a great movie, there are enough comedy skits that make this a well-worth movie to watch.  At times, I was in tears.  I just wonder which parts of the movie were filmed with unknown individuals versus paid actors/actresses.  For example, there is a cute scene where Billy is playing finger wrestling with a young woman.  I noticed on IMDB that she is an actress.  The end credit scenes provide some clues on which ones were done in front of unknowing individuals, but I'd really like to know about all the skits.  The scene I'd really like to know about is when Irving calls in a couple moving guys to help move a bed, but instead he asks them to move the dead body of his wife.

Also, I'd love to see the outtakes.  I wonder how many folks made the effort to call or wave down a cop.  For example, Billy goes around in one city asking men if they'd be willing to be his father.  I wonder if any of those guys attempted to call or wave down a cop and were stopped by the filming crew.  It might actually be an interesting psychology experiment that I'm sure has been done already.

A Movie Review: The Impossible

The Impossible.  This is a stunning story about a family of five that survived the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 200,000.  Maria (Naomi Watts) and Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons were staying at an ocean side resort in Thailand.  The tsunami pushed Maria and her son, Lucas, inland.  Somehow the currents connected the two together.  Henry climbed a tree near the resort and was able to locate their two other sons.  The movie follows their story as they eventually re-unite.

The family was extremely lucky to say the least.  In some ways, one might want to ask why a movie would be made about this family when so many other families were torn apart by this natural disaster (or none survive at all).  On the other hand, showing that miracles happen even in the worst of disasters provides one with a sense that even when great tragedies hit one can still appreciate that one surviving flower.

Reading about the true story online, I realized that this story revolves around a Spanish family.  I don't know why the movie didn't make this more obvious as I had the distinct feeling that this family was from Northern Europe.

Note:  in many ways this is a gruesome movie to watch.  Maria suffered severe injuries:  a massive, deep gash in one of her legs and an ugly cut under one of her breasts.  Who ever did the make-up on Naomi Watts has to be given props, because it made me ill to my stomach.
      

A Movie Review: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.  Dr. Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor) is approached via e-mail by Harriet (Emily Blunt) about introducing salmon to Yemen.  One of her wealthy clients, Sheikh Muhammed (Amr Waked), wants to attempt this project.  Alfred immediately laughs it off as he just doesn't see it as possible, but via outside events he is pressured into it.

This is a low key movie about attempting to do what is considered impossible.  It is also about lost relationships (or relationships that really weren't meant to be) and finding new love.

Hi Ho Silver Oh at Bootleg HiFi

Hi Ho Silver Oh. The 70s making a comeback during the month of July at The Bootleg.

Irontom at Bootleg HiFi

Irontom. I believe this was my 2nd or 3rd time seeing this band. I was impressed the first time I saw them. I was amazed this time around.

Iska Dhaaf at Bootleg HiFi

Iska Dhaaf. A two-piece band punking their way to Los Angeles from Seattle.

A Movie Review: The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby. Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) just moved to New York to work on Wall Street.  He lives next to an isolated millionaire, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio).  Jay takes an interest in Nick when he learns that Nick's cousin is Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan).  It so happened that Jay and Daisy were once lovers.  The movie takes a look into the 0.01% of the 1920s.

I found this an enjoyable movie though I found Nick's wrath towards his cousin at the end of the movie wrong.  I understand his anger towards his friend (and Daisy's husband), Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton).  But to me Daisy felt she needed to honor her marriage versus following her heart, which I think is understandable.

Break out star:  Elizabeth Debicki (Jordan Baker) who was just wonderful in a detached sort of way.

A Movie Review: The Sea Hawk

Set just before the British defeat of the Spanish Armada, Geoffrey Thorpe (Errol Flynn) is a pirate with a tangential association with the British queen (Elizabeth).  He attacks Spanish ships.  The Spanish aren't too pleased and find a way to capture him.  He escapes and warns the queen about the coming invasion.  

I find it an enjoyable romp, but I do have that question of rather or not a woman would really fall for a man who attacked the vessel she was on -- especially considering it was a vessel on a diplomatic mission?  Oh well, I doubt such a dynamic would be greeted very well in a contemporary film, but it is fine for something filmed in the 1940s.

Dead Sara at Pershing Square

Dead Sara.  Okay, a really horrible photo below.  Dead Sara rocked the stage for around 1 hour.  Emily, the lead singer, is just totally charismatic on stage.  And I loved how she went into the audience during their last song.  I just wish Pershing Square would have allowed in cameras.  I'm pretty sure I would have gotten some awesome shots.

LA Font at The Satellite

LA Font. Having some psychedelic fun.

Sego at The Satellite

Sego.  Slackers of rock.

Doja Cat at The Satellite

Doja Cat. The energizer raper.

A Movie Review. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2

The Twilight Sage:  Breaking Dawn - Part 2.  I personally thought Breaking Dawn - Part 1 was one of the worst movies of 2011.  So I finally caught Part 2 and what did I think?  Not that bad actually. One could hope that there was a bit more Alice (Ashley Greene) and a little less Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) in the movie, but then that wouldn't have been very true to the book.  I do love Kristen Stewart, but this movie series just didn't fit her.

I'm not saying it is a great movie, but it is a passable movie.  My one big problem:  the fight scene.  Come on, why not bring some swords or other similar weapons to the fight?

A Movie Review: The Canyons

The Canyons.  I happened to catch this on cable.  I figure why not watch this movie with Lindsay Lohan.  In many ways, this was a massive mistake.  I think she did fine in the movie.  It just that those around her were awful.  And honestly, what was the movie about?  A spoiled rich kid who forces his girlfriend into having sex with men for his pleasure.  And then the movie turns into a really bad film noir that ends leaving the viewer (at least this one), just slightly confused.

Eastern Conference Champions at Chinatown Summer Nights

Eastern Conference Champions. I checked, it was over 400 days since I last saw Eastern Conference Champions. It was way too long.

I love this band with the heavy sound that vibrates your body.

Madi Diaz playing Chinatown Summer Nights

Madi Diaz.  The set started out with technical issues of a microphone not being plugged in.  But after that was quickly fixed, she treated us with a couple mournful solo songs which were followed up with her backup band coming on stage.

Noticed:  her orange dress matched her finger nail polish, which just happened to match her wristband.

Island Apollo at Silverlake Lounge

Island Apollo.

Young Beautiful in a Hurry at Silverlake Lounge

Young Beautiful in a Hurry. Occasionally you walk into a venue just as a band is starting up there first song and you're like:  this is going to be good.  Yep, 45 minutes of awesome with this band.

A Movie Review: Begin Again

Begin Again.  How often does a movie from the very first scene make you just a little misty eyed?  Begin Again is just that type of movie.  It begins in a small local New York City music venue.  Steve (James Corden) is finishing up his singer-songwriter music set.  He understands he’s just part of a long music gig list, but he wants his friend to sing a song.  He asks the crowd if they’d be willing to listen to Greta (Keira Knightley).  Folks agree, but she is very hesitant.  The encouragement continues and so she relents.  She picks up a guitar and starts to sing a heartfelt song about a recent breakup.  Everyone is listening to her song for perhaps a breath or two and then the hushed conversations start between friends.  The conversations soon turn louder and only a handful of people are still giving her their attention.  The camera focuses in on one of those individuals, Dan (Mark Ruffalo).

The movie comes back to this scene twice again in quick order, taking it in from the perspectives of Dan and Greta.  Dan’s perspective starts at the beginning of the day.  He’s the co-founder of an indie record label.  He’s in a personal multi-year downward spiral, caused by the fact that his wife, Miriam (Catherine Keener), left him.  He wakes up and then quickly falls back asleep.  He wakes back up and realizes that it is way too late in the day.  He rushes out the door, grabbing a manila envelope filled with CDs that was left at his door.  Jumping into his car, he starts going through the CDs, listening to a lot of awful music.  He picks up his daughter, Violet (Hailee Steinfeld), at school and then rushes off to his label’s office.  He is very late for a meeting where the discussion revolves around musicians providing commentary to their music.  He thinks it is an awful idea.  Well, his co-founder has had enough with dealing with his partner’s emotional state and fires him.  Dan eventually finds his way to the local music venue.

Greta’s story takes us back a few weeks.  She’s arriving in New York City from the UK with her boyfriend, Dave (Adam Levine).  Dave is a musician hitting break-out status.  A movie that features his music is selling out in New York theaters so his music label puts the two of them up in the city.  Music stardom and the perks that comes with it for a male musician is a near definite for him as he’s quickly recognized by three young women who gush over him.  It isn’t long before Greta discovers that Dave is cheating on her.  She heads on over to her fellow expat friend Steve, who is singing on the sidewalk.  He settles her into his tight studio apartment and then drags her off to the local music venue.

After Greta’s song at the venue, Dan introduces himself and the two agree that he will help her produce an album.  They decide they’ll record the album across New York City.  The scenes across the city will have you falling in love with her music and maybe just maybe have you wishing that you’d taken those music lessons a bit more seriously and those science, math, history and literature courses a little less so.

What I love so much about this movie are the nuggets of small moments within many of the scenes.  Greta and Steve decide one night to send a “f-you song” voice mail to Dave.  In the middle of the song, Steve takes out a kazoo and starts to play it.  Greta turns her head and shoots him a look, which sends the kazoo back where it belongs.  There’s a scene where Dan is getting ready to pitch Greta to his ex-music partner.  He rushes off to Miriam’s house where for some reason he still has most of his belongings.  As he’s taking a shower, Miriam takes a quick downward look in the direction of a certain part of the male body.  In some ways, his renewed passion is drawing her back to him.  During one of the recordings, Violet is asked to play her guitar.  She finally joins in (probably after hours of them recording various versions of the song).  Her amp acts up and first Steve and then Greta come over to work on the amp.  And finally, just back to that first scene (not that there aren’t additional moments that my fingers are just itching to type out).  It immediately had me thinking about Hotel Café here in Los Angeles, which has a very similar vibe to that New York venue.  For those who go to these singer-songwriter venues, please raise your hands if you’ve never been guilty of being one of those audience members who talked through someone’s set.  I think all of us who love the local music scene in our perspective cities are guilty of such moments.  At Hotel Café, most of the time a “shh” is quickly sent into the air, which makes Greta’s moment on the stage so emotionally raw because no one comes to her aid.

Take a quiet moment and see this movie.

A Movie Review: Identity Thief

Identity Thief.  This is a mildly amusing movie where an employee at a finance firm, Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) makes a really dumb mistake and provides his social security and date of birth to an identity thief, Diana (Melissa McCarthy).  Sandy jumps ships to a start-up finance firm when everything blows up on him.  In order to save his new job, he heads off to Florida where Diana lives.  There are some fun moments in the movie, but nothing that yells out classic comedy.  

A Movie Review: Red 2

Red 2.  I have found memories of Red.  I remember it being a blast.  Then Red 2 came out and the reviews were awful so I didn't go and see it in the theaters.  It was recently free HBO/Showtime weekend for me and so I added it to my DVR.  I recently watched it.  Oh why, would Bruce Willis and company do this film?  It really is just straight out boring.

A Movie Review: Chef

Chef. Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) was once one of the "It" chefs in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, he works for a restaurant boss who likes to play a little conservative and isn't big on changing the menu.  A local critic is coming in for dinner and so Carl wants to change up the menu.  His boss (Dustin Hoffman) isn't having this change and demands that Carl keep to the menu.  The local critic writes up a very negative review.  One thing leads to another and Carl leaves his job.  He makes his comeback via a food truck.

Watching this movie, I couldn't help but wish I had the following in regards to food:

a.  the ability to understand how to mix spices.
b.  the time to properly prepare food.
c.  the time to take a few food classes.
d.  a much bigger kitchen.

This movie provides a marvelous landscape over a niche scene.  Favreau also brings along a couple of his Avengers for the ride in Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr.

A Movie Review: Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow. The world has been invaded.  The invasion started in Europe.  Europe is essentially wiped out.  American and UK forces are preparing for a second D-day.  Cage (Tom Cruise) is a military PR guy who is ordered to go to the front lines.  He declines.  That doesn't sit well with the commanding officer so he is demoted and sent to the front line as a soldier.  He is ill-prepared for that and quickly dies.  Before he dies, he kills an alien.  This alien species has an ability to re-start time, which is a reason why they're winning the war.  As he's dying, the blood of the alien he's killed drenches him.  Via this, the ability to re-set time is transferred to him.  After who knows how many repeated deaths, he is able to connect with Rita (Emily Blunt) who also experienced the same phenomena but no longer has that ability.  They join forces in an attempt to defeat the alien invaders.

I will admit upfront that this is a movie that someone should probably study up on before seeing.  There are various ranks in the alien force.  These names are tossed around throughout the movie and if one isn't paying too much attention, it is easy to get a tad lost.  That being said, I found this to be an exciting thrill ride.  I will admit I haven't seen every action flick this summer and there are still more to come, but as of early July this is the best action/sci-fi movie of the summer.  

There are always questions related to these type of science fiction movies, so here are mine:

1.  Why did the alien force just invade Europe?

2.  Why doesn't he ALWAYS wake up at the exact same moment after each death?  -- a somewhat spoiler question.

Random Sighting: Sidewalk musicians

I was driving through my neighborhood and happened to notice some musical instrument cases on the sidewalk.  That kind of caught my attention so I did the rubber neck thing and took a closer look.  There were two musicians playing on the sidewalk:  a drummer and a stand-up bassist.  So awesome.

Make Music Pasadena 2014

Make Music Pasadena is a rarity in the Los Angeles area: a free music festival that always delivers top notch bands such as Best Coast, Grimes, Grouplove, and Matt and Kim. So yes, I do love Make Music Pasadena.

The Second Howl

It was an early start to the day. They hit the stage at 12 noon. “Let’s make some noise.” It was time to rock out during the brunch hour. Someone in the audience yelled out, “Hey, too much rumble.” Lead vocalist, Natasha Jeanne, put her all into her vocals while making the pastel, 50’s SciFi movie fashion style look cool. Thumbs up: she gave a shout out to the sponsors.

Celeigh Chapman

A handful of dudes who perhaps were a bit too raucous, requested a shout out before her set. She obliged, “Giving a shout out to the dudesters . . . that might be a problem.” She and her band then broke into their country set. Her lyrics, inspired by growing up in Bakersfield, comforted, “Don’t be afraid baby, my heart is yours.”

Moses Sumney

He’s gotten a lot of well deserving press recently. When I caught him at The Bootleg during his recent residency, The Fold had opened up the much larger backroom theater to accommodate the crowd. “Thanks to my friend Josh for providing daytime ambiance.” I love his minimalist take on music. Lyrics: I don’t know if I’m worth it.

Wild Ones

They’re from Portland. To me, that’s all that needs to be said. Fleeting vocals. I wonder if they’ve ever played a set with another Portland band I’m really big on, The Lower 48. The two bands hitting the stage at say The Satellite would make for a nice night of Portland Music 101 for Los Angeles. 

Music Break Time: I’m a big horse racing fan. I’ve followed California Chrome in his attempt to win the Triple Crown. As I was walking between stages, I saw that a local restaurant had the Belmont Stakes on their outdoor televisions. And so I took a 15 minute break. The patrons didn’t seem all that into the Belmont Stakes, but the waiter staff sure was and we held our breaths as California Chrome went the 1 ½ mile route. It just wasn’t to be. Heartbreak.

Tennis

“It smells like Denver out there . . . Do you all have water out there? I’m worried about you. That’s dangerous. “ Their sound has you thinking about driving PCH in a convertible. (Okay, maybe a real Tennis fan would say taking the yacht out for a sail.) Lyrics: It’s wrong I know, but I can’t let go.

Yuna

So during the middle of her set, she bent down during a break and a beach ball flew over her head. The crowd gasped at the symmetry of the two moving bodies. She stood back up and was baffled by the crowd reaction. “What happened?” She’s from Malaysia. I’ve never been to Malaysia, but I have been to Thailand. During my time in Thailand, I could never get properly hydrated. On the night I was leaving Bangkok to head back to Los Angeles, I was waiting for the subway and I couldn’t help but notice a young woman in a sweater. Wearing a sweater in what felt like 90% humidity? And so Yuna had a different take on the temperature than Tennis. “Are you hot? Well, I have a turtleneck on.” And there you have it, perspective. Lyrics: I thought I should let you know, I want you back.

TeamMate

This is a two piece, pop band. Noticed: One of their electronic instruments wasn’t working during the sound check. Why? It wasn’t plugged in. Ha ha. Technical issues. Lyrics: You fall for girls with boy’s names. 

Noticed: A young girl was playing with her stuffed animal horse. So painful. That wasn’t the only painful California Chrome reminder. To show my support, I brought along my Santa Anita Park pen to write down my Make Music Pasadena notes. Within moments of California Chrome coming in fourth, my pen broke into pieces. I managed to get it functional so that I could continue my notes, but it was still eventually heading into the trash.

The Record Company

This blues infused rock band had the Memorial Park crowd dancing. Hey, when the lead singer puts that much energy into stomping, the crowd better go along. Lyrics: When I feel down by my occupation . . .

Eliza Rickman She’s a Make Music Pasadena tradition for me. In fact, I’ve followed her music career longer than any of the other singer songwriters/bands that played Make Music Pasadena. “My digital downloads are pay what you want. It has worked out pretty well for me. Some guy did download my music and paid zero. Then he asked me out on a date!!!” Lyrics: Seek you, see through. Calling for thee.

So Many Wizards. They call themselves dream punk. That sounds about right. I got to their set a song late. It was a song too late for this photographer. Old Towne Pub was packed to the entrance door. I managed to make my way to the side wall where there is a line of chairs. I took my chance and stood on one and snapped some really bad photos. Lyrics: I don’t need anything, just let me be.

Here’s waiting for 2015 . . .

Happy 4th of July

A Movie Review: Maleficent

Maleficent. Maybe Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) was just a wronged fairy who took her anger too far.  If so, the real evil party here were the Flower Pixies (Junno Temple, Imelda Staunton, Lesley Manville) who I think cursed Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) with infinite happiness.  I really do think that Aurora was way too forgiving of Maleficent.  Maleficent put an awful curse on Aurora, but Aurora can do nothing but smile it away.

Though I found Angelina Jolie wonderful, I just couldn't get over my hatred of Aurora's "curse" -- as defined by me.  I think the Flower Pixies made Aurora into a badly written one dimensional character.

A Movie Review: Neighbors

Neighbors. Mac Radner (Seth Rogen) and Kelly Radner (Rose Byrne) have a newborn.  Unfortunately, a fraternity buys the next door home.  They try to come to an agreement with the president of the frat, Teddy Sanders (Zac Elfron), but that agreement quickly comes to an end.  The two sides quickly descend into a tit for tat.

I'll call this a somewhat amusing movie.  I was a tad disappointed with the fellow fraternity brother, Pete (Dave Franco), who I thought wasn't a well written character.  I did enjoy the battle between the two sides.